Reviews for any metal and rock music

Svartstorm – Illusion of Choice

The debut record of any band in the entire world needs to have a large amount of awe and must be able to grip the attention and imagination of the listener. We get results of all kinds from all over the world, but the newest band to impress me is easily the Russian gothic metal group of Svartstorm who absolutely smash the rest of the competition that they may face.

Many people are so narrow-minded that if a song isn’t sung in lyrics of their same language, much less if they’re able to what’s being said in general, they refuse to listen to it. That fucking boggles my mind, and it will cease to amuse me that those same people will be missing out on true gems like what Svartstorm’s debut full-length, “Illusion of Choice”, happened to be. These Russians managed to bring together elements of melodic death, extreme, and even a little bit of symphonic metal that all gravitate around this core of gothic metal that make for a real smashing album that I’ve heard very few of over the years. All that leads to “Illusion of Choice” being a heavy melodic record with so many twists and variations around its core style that never once the music feels stale or that Svartstorm are beating a dead horse via sounding the exact same through all nine tracks. Then the fact that these guys managed to use additional instruments, multiple sets of vocals including bringing in a beautiful voice of a woman, and then marvelous song structure out the ass shows that Svartstorm aren’t only thinking outside of the box, but they’re redefining what it means to be a gothic metal band. And it tastes ever so sweet.

To call Russia a country where “no good metal comes from” is no more than a fucking lie as we’ve one brilliant example right here, and that’s all the proof needed! Svartstorm makes a fantastic case that amongst the vast Russian landscape there’s plenty of metal to behold and that it comes in top quality if one is simply willing to look for it in the right places. “Illusion of Choice” is an immensely entertaining record and one that’s hopefully the first of much more excellent efforts from this very exceptional band.